In recent years there has been an increased emphasis on energy and material conservation and, as a result, the crushing and recycling of aluminum beverage containers has become an important factor in the recycling effort. In order to recycle used beverage cans, it has been the practice to initially crush or compact the cans to reduce the volume and reduce transportation charges.
Many types of devices have been used in the past for crushing aluminum beverage cans. Small, manually operated crushers have been used by homeowners, in which the cans are individually crushed through operation of a manual handle or lever. For establishments that generate a large number of cans, such as restaurants, bars, and the like, power-operated can crushing devices have been utilized.
One such power-operated can crushing device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,822 issued Jul. 12, 1994 to Richard M. Koenig, the applicant of this patent application. In the Koenig patent, a fixed anvil is mounted on a frame and a ram is mounted for movement in a direction toward and away from the anvil to crush an article located therebetween. The articles are fed sequentially to the crushing zone between the anvil and the ram through a vertical chute. A spring loaded wedge plate extends outwardly from the ram toward the anvil and initially contacts the article intermediate its length to bend or deform the article to thereby insure uniform crushing of the article by the ram. A series of fixed ejector pins are mounted on the frame and project into the crushing zone. As the ram moves in its return stroke, the crushed can, if hanging up on the ram, will engage the ejector pins to strip the can from the ram and permit the crushed can to fall downwardly into a suitable disposal container.
Although the overall design of the aforedescribed can crushing device has been generally satisfactory, there are several problems which can affect the continuous operation of the device. The first problem deals with the consistent, proper placement of various sized cans in the crushing zone as the cans are sequentially fed from the chute. A second problem relates to the occasional hanging up of the crushed can on the ejector pins as the ram is retracted. A third problem resides in the retarded movement of the ram on the ejector pins during the return stroke of the ram. While all of these problems can be rectified, it is necessary to stop the device and trouble shoot the particular problem before resuming crushing operations. As a result of such down time, operating efficiency is impaired and high volume, uniform crushing is reduced accordingly.
As a result of such drawbacks, it is desirable to provide an improved device for crushing and releasing articles such as metal cans, plastic bottles, and the like. There continues to be a need for an inexpensive, compact, automatic can crusher which can be continuously operated with a minimum of maintenance in establishments that handle a considerable quantity of beverage cans, such as restaurants, bars, fast food eateries, and the like.